Pax Christi condemns Government decision to proscribe Palestine Action as terrorist organisation

Source: Pax Christi

Pax Christi UK has issued this statement today: 'We join our friends and colleagues in the peace movement in condemning the Government's decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. The decision follows the group's recent action at RAF Brize Norton when members are accused of breaking into the base and spraying red paint over two military planes.

'As others have said, there is a long and proud history in the peace movement of direct action at military bases and arms companies. In 1996, we supported the Seeds of Hope Ploughshare action in which three women 'disarmed' a Hawk Aircraft at Warton BAe factory. The issues there were similar. Charged with causing criminal damage the women pleaded not guilty on the grounds that they had not committed a crime but were 'acting to prevent British Aerospace and the British Government from aiding and abetting genocide' The three plus one other were found not guilty at a trial in Liverpool.

'There seems to have been no suggestion at all at the time that the Seeds of Hope action was somehow terrorism. Our belief is that no reasonable person would consider the direct action of Palestine Action to be terrorism either. It was quite simply nonviolent protest aimed at drawing attention to the Government's complicity in a genocide in Gaza as it allows planes of the type that were damaged to be used to support Israel's bombing and military action.

'As Declassified UK have reported, the Government's decision on Palestine Action merely adds to the suspicion that the Government is succumbing to intense lobbying on the part of arms manufacturers who are demanding that action is taken against what everyone knows to be legitimate protest.'

See: www.declassifieduk.org/israeli-arms-firm-lobbied-home-office-on-palestine-action-court-case/

If you would like to support Palestine Action, you can write to your MP using the template HERE

or sign a petition organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign: www.palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/NoProscription